


Shotgun!

by Teigh



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-18
Updated: 2006-01-18
Packaged: 2017-10-11 16:55:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/114580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teigh/pseuds/Teigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Introspection in the Key of Oz</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shotgun!

**Author's Note:**

> For the AU 100 Prompt: 096, Writer's Choice "Thumb"  
> A/N: Part of "The Killing Moon" Arc.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Oz, he belongs to Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon and company. Beth Gibbons and the Eagles aren't mine either. I make no money from this, and intend no copyright infringement.

Picking up hitchhikers at night is kind of like playing Russian roulette with a half-loaded handgun. His Sunnydale bred instincts serve him well on the road -his unshakeable need to help…not so much. Thankfully, the continued necessity of sleeping in his van has granted the battered vehicle 'home' status. He'd first discovered that outside of Boise, when he'd stopped for coffee and a ham sandwich at an all-night diner, and ended the evening attempting to help a dirty blonde teen escape a trio of biker vamps. He still dreamt about the look of wide-eyed surprise the blonde turned his way, when she re-bounded back from the invisible barrier. Though, he was probably still dreaming about her because her dust lingered in the van; he kept finding it in his shoes, like a scorpion's ghost trying to pass on its venom.

If he really listened to his Sunnydale breeding he'd never even think about offering rides to strangers. But he understands why someone would be standing alongside a highway, waiting for the flash and approach of headlights, understands the desperation that had the late-night travelers sticking out their thumb and gambling on the goodwill of strangers. The guy that first said 'Life is about the journey, not the destination' had never given a hysterical bride, her right eye purpling, a lift back to her parents' house.

The thing about hitchhikers, though, was once you give one a ride, the wide world and self obligation has you continually risking life and trust. He'd sworn off the Good Fight, but he couldn't stop helping. And really, for all his silences, he is a social beast. Occasional traveling companions ease the ache around his heart.

Long nights given to introspection, as Beth Gibbons' voice slinked out of the speakers, and the highway laid itself down beneath the van's wheels, had evidently turned the topic metaphorical. Give someone a ride and the whole wide world thinks you're a taxi. The taxi, not the driver; he thinks of Xander- a hitchhiker himself on Buffy's coattails- and a reluctantly given tale of hyenas and pigs eaten squealing raw. He thinks of Xander and Faith.

Vampires are hitchhikers, but pushy ones, rude bastards who jump into your car at a rest stop and refuse to let you drive, ever again. He used to consider the wolf a hitchhiker, one that needed to be belted down in the back seat-preferably with thick chains and a straitjacket- and couldn't be dropped off anywhere. The key to a congenial road trip with a furry passenger seemed to hinge on the soundtrack's choice. Unfortunately, the wolf had vastly different tastes in music. He'd listened to The Eagles' 'Desperado' on repeat as he'd crossed Utah, because his skin stopped itching while it played.

Open the doors and let them in. He grips the steering wheel tight and feels the distinctive dry grit of vampire dust against his palm. Next opportunity he gets, he's hunting down one of those coin-operated car washes with the super-sized vacuum cleaners.


End file.
